Outdoor equipment retailer SAILs into Burlington this month

Setting SAIL into Burlington

A new Quebec outdoors store, SAIL, is making a voyage into Burlington this month.

The Laval-based retailer, founded more than 40 years ago, has embarked on an expansion into Ontario with the opening of three new stores in Ottawa, Oshawa and Vaughan last fall.

Now it is opening an eighth store, this one on Industrial Street in Burlington, near the corner of the QEW and Brant Street, on June 21. Its location is about 1.5 kilometres from the similar Mountain Equipment Co-op on Brant Street.

Richard Viger, marketing director for SAIL, said the location is central to Burlington and is visible from the highway.

“We are pretty similar but MEC promotes their own brands. We carry national brands and maybe we have a much bigger selection than them.”

Viger said the Vaughan store is only about a kilometre from a Bass Pro store.

The SAIL store is about 70,000 square feet, almost double that of MEC. A mezzanine level adds a kind of two-stores-in-one look to the layout.

The new building represents a $15-million investment, according to a company statement.

“The first floor is all outdoors — footwear, clothing, camping, boats; the second floor is all hunting and fishing,” Viger said.

SAIL offers more than 500,000 items in its stores. Viger said about 35 per cent of sales come from the hunting and fishing products, including a selection of guns and crossbows.

“It’s an important part of the store.”

SAIL Burlington has hired most of its 150 full- and part-time staff, he said.

“You’re going to get service in our store and you’re going to find some very competitive pricing,” he said.

SAIL plans to open more Ontario locations, with the next one in Etobicoke in November.